Mexico’s President-Elect Balks at Including Energy Chapter in New NAFTA

November 30, 2018

Wall Street Journal

Senior Counsel Carlos Véjar was quoted by the Wall Street Journal on the President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador's disagreement on adding an energy chapter to the new NAFTA which could postpone reaching a deal. Energy was not apart of the original 1994 trade deal as Mexico had a state monopoly in oil, but in 2013 the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto opened the industry to private and foreign investment. Negotiators from the U.S. and Mexico are meeting this week in Washington, D.C. in an effort to reach a deal before Mr. López Obrador takes office in December. Mr. Véjar discussed with WSJ on the energy chapter's ability to prevent Mexico from reinstating their former rule and closing the energy sector from foreign and private investors.

“The energy sector was on the table, but it wasn’t a matter of concern. It was rather a technical issue on how to reflect Mexico’s overhaul in the treaty,” Mr. Véjar said. “Excluding it could change the scope of the negotiation, given that this is the sector that currently has the highest investment volumes.”